Difficult or appreciated, “Dear Words” by Diogo Pican

The saxophone was the instrument that Diogo Picao chose at the beginning of his musical training, although he admits that his first instruments were school tables, where he liked to “drum.” He entered the Torres Vedras Jazz School, where a friend with whom he shared some records learned to play the trumpet. The first experience of concerts and “jam sessions” took place close to home, at the ANIMAR Cultural Association, in the Area Branca area, Lorignan. He went to Porto, where he graduated from the ESMAI jazz department and laid the foundation for becoming a professional musician. He combined saxophone playing with voice and writing.

“Writing has always been my passion. Initially, when I was a teenager, I wrote poems and diary entries, later I realized that the poems I wrote could be turned into music. These were things that went hand in hand and that are more connected these days. Usually when I write, I write for songs, but I also write some chronicles and other lyrics,” says the singer-songwriter.

Diogo Picao’s first album was “Cidade Saloia”, a work that was also presented in Brazil, at the Oficinas da Música, in Curitiba. His connection with the Brazilian community is long-standing, and Brazilian music appears naturally in his compositions. “My music is most influenced by Portuguese singers such as Sergio Godinho, Zeca Afonso, and singers I listened to a lot as a child. Then also the influence of jazz, which I studied, and Brazilian music, which I studied. very strong, mpb and samba, but also other latin rhythms such as cuban son and salsa. Cape Verdean music increasingly included funana, mornas and coladeiras,” emphasizes Diogo Picao, who participated in the show. Panther, p. Dance troupe of Clara Andermatt.

“I started out as a musician,” I thought, “but I ended up becoming a musician, dancer and singer. It was a great honor for me, firstly because I paid tribute to Orlando Pantera, who for me is one of the best composers in Cape Verde.” , and secondly, because it was a very strong school in which I saw myself developing in several facets,” he recalls.

Diogo Picao’s latest work is called “Palavras Caras” and it features several special guests. “In this latest album, “Palavras Caras”, there is a song called “Encontro de Amigos”, which features Salvador Sobral. Monica Salmaso, the great Brazilian singer, appeared on “Ais ou Menos”. And Luka Argel in the song. “Palavras Caras”. Basically, I invited the singers I admire the most to be on the album, Salvador Sobral already appeared on the first album, in “Sem Responses”. He is my friend and a wonderful singer,” says the singer. musician.

“’Palavras Caras’ is a song about the story of the absence of love, written in complex language. Essentially, she had to play a little with the idea that expensive words imply complex stories. And I don’t believe it. I wrote a very simple song. a thing from the point of view of history, narrative, but with more expensive words. This name also has a double meaning, dear, because of these words.